Report claims iPod, MacBook, and MacBook Pro shortages coming... along with new gear

According to a report from AppleInsider, the Cupertino giant is issuing "advisement bulletins" to some of its channel partners suggesting they get their hands on iPods and MacBooks / MacBook Pros while the gettin's good. It seems that Apple is telling resellers to place orders for a four-week block's worth of top-selling iPods, saying that within the next seven days supplies will become extremely limited, while recommending a three-week supply of MacBooks and MacBook Pros. The article claims that this practice is familiar to third-party sellers, and indicates Apple is ramping up for its holiday season (and new iPods and MacBooks / Pros, presumably). Of course, right now this is just whispers in high school hallways, but we can promise you this: Apple will be selling something this holiday season. You have our word.

[OneLove @ Jul 30th 2008 3:18PM]

Oh noooo!!! women and children first.

[Dave @ Jul 30th 2008 3:32PM]

Oh please.

It sounds like they got a hint of Nintendo's strategy and are trying it out.

[John Doe @ Jul 30th 2008 3:45PM]

yeah...Apple is starting to play "Hard to Get" as is evident with 3G iphone and possibly taking Nintendo's strategy on the Wii

[paolo @ Jul 30th 2008 4:14PM]

And here I am wanting to buy a laptop... Should I wait for the new macbooks to come out and then have a good deal on one of the current macbooks or get a new one if it ends up being an update worth for, rather than buying one right now ?

Though right now, I can have the macbook with a free ipod touch (university freebie) though I woulndn't be able to sell it at a reasonable price, if the new ones are coming. (as I'm pretty sure something major will happen with the touch and I'm not too keen on it either)

[Brad @ Jul 30th 2008 4:28PM]

Actually, this is the strategy of former multi-millionaire and defamed amusement park owner, Eric Cartman. He realized that by taunting the public (and a mythical "Kyle" - the easily identifiable everyman) he could drive attendance through the roof.

Both Nintendo and Apple are employing this strategy.

[Dale Massey @ Jul 30th 2008 5:02PM]

- Revised form factors on all iPods.
- WiFi integrated into all iPods with a screen.
- iPod Touch to undergo a facelift, share form factor with the iPhone 3G, larger back allows for a HDD.

[Eddie @ Jul 30th 2008 5:05PM]

@Brad:
Ha! I saw what you did there.

[OneLove @ Jul 30th 2008 5:12PM]

wow, I said "first" and didn't get low ranked.

[bolezhinkov @ Jul 30th 2008 5:34PM]

how did you get away with that . . .

[Steffen Jobbs @ Jul 30th 2008 7:11PM]

Maybe Microsoft should have tried taunting the public with the Zune insteading of having millions of units for sale that nobody wanted. Why is it when there are supply line shortages it's always planned for? That's the craziest theory I've ever heard. If a production line is already running to capacity and then there's more demand for a product, it takes time to ramp up another line due to needing more inventory and training workers.

Unless you're saying that strategy of creating demand only works with superior products because normally customers would just buy something else. And if you're saying that there is no worthwhile substitute for an Apple product, I might agree on that point.

[peekinde @ Jul 30th 2008 3:19PM]

woohoo!

[Andy @ Jul 30th 2008 5:22PM]

I second that. There is something big coming (apart from Steve Jobs health report) that should be good for the company and the stock price. As a long suffering stock holder before buyng mu iPhone- http://www.savingtoinvest.com/2008/06/my-shiny-new-iphone-and-why-i-bought.html - I am now hoping for a fall rebound in the companies fortunes.

[nikster @ Jul 30th 2008 8:06PM]

@andy: The company's fortunes are as good as they can possibly be, thankyouverymuch. Each new quarter has new record earnings and profits.

What's been hit is the company's stock price, which is decided entirely on the basis that Steve Jobs is ill - this time around. At other times, it's other nefarious reasons but it rarely has anything to do the company's fantastic positioning for the future.

I have been there now 2 times when Apple's stock price is cut in half overnight (well or more recently within a week or two, at the beginning of the year). The first time, I held on and hoped for the best, and AAPL would actually go on and rise 10 fold over the next few years. The second time I had learned my lesson and bought more when it was down. I'll do the same thing this time around, once it gets under 150.

Anyway, Steve Jobs is a billionaire, obsessed with his health, and 53 years old. He'll be Apple boss for at least another 10 years. Plenty of time to find/nurse a successor.

[whatishalo? @ Jul 30th 2008 3:20PM]

How dare they update the product line. I just bought my new ipod 2 weeks ago. I had better get my $100 credit!!

[Homeboy @ Jul 30th 2008 3:26PM]

Then I guess you are new to engadget because everyone else here pretty much knows that Apple always updates their products in August/September.

[tiuk @ Jul 30th 2008 4:51PM]

*whoosh*

[Mikey @ Jul 30th 2008 4:53PM]

Homeboy, I think his post was making fun of the iPhone first generation early adopters/whiners.... I don't think it was for serious

[loosely_coupled @ Jul 31st 2008 2:09AM]

@homeboy
indeed, you must be new here....

[Whtrbt7 @ Jul 30th 2008 3:21PM]

Crossed fingers for iRack.....

[Brian E @ Jul 30th 2008 3:28PM]

The iRack is obsolete.... I'm waiting for the iRan

[MrGam3r @ Jul 30th 2008 3:20PM]

i think apple will probably sell a new ipod.

hmm. i should totally be an analyst.

[Bleck @ Jul 30th 2008 3:23PM]

Apple, please, 80GB Touch for $250. I know that the Touch and Hard drives are "eeeeeeeh" to alot of people, but I will buy it and I know many who will too. DO IT APPLE!

[John Doe @ Jul 30th 2008 3:56PM]

seriously...WHAT???

[phanbouy @ Jul 30th 2008 3:59PM]

i'm with John

[Zak @ Jul 30th 2008 4:37PM]

The 32GB Touch uses two 16GB chips. How are they supposed to get it up to 80GB? Which mythical 40GB chips are they supposed to use? The 32GB chips are becoming more prevalent (and cheaper) so we *might* see a 64GB Touch.

[tcc3 @ Jul 30th 2008 4:39PM]

He's right, even if hes a bit hard to understand. there needs to be a large capacity touch model, and it doesn't need to be crazy expensive. Retire the classic and bring out a hard drive based touch. I might not have bought a Zune had there been a hard drive based touch.

[Mikey @ Jul 30th 2008 4:55PM]

"Which mythical 40GB chips are they supposed to use?"

Uhhh... that's why he said "hard drive touch." Reading comprehension must not be your strong suit.

[Zak @ Jul 30th 2008 5:12PM]

mikey - where to start? Are you sure it's *my* reading comprehension that's the problem here? Show me where he said "hard drive touch". Those exact words in that order. Look real hard at what the OP actually said.

Oh, and then explain how a hard drive would fit into a touch, because since you seem to be agreeing with the OP I'm sure you can show me which laws of physics you're planning to break to make that happen.

[wyatt @ Jul 30th 2008 5:32PM]

i think the phrase came right after the word xanax, but i might be wrong.

for the record, i also want a higher-capacity touch. even if it means a bigger case to fit the hdd.

[alex @ Jul 30th 2008 5:34PM]

@ Zak - are you a moron? What is 32 + 32 + 16. I'll help, its 80. That is how they would get 80, you douche.

[Zak @ Jul 30th 2008 6:45PM]

Alex - for all the name calling, you sure don't seem to be as good at math as you think you are. Read my first response. I said the Touch uses two 16 GB chips. You know why it uses two?

Because three won't fit. So tell me again how they're going to get 80 GB into a touch, and again, tell me which laws of physics you think they should break to make it happen. And it case you missed it the first two times, here it is again, to be extra super clear, just for you: The Touch only uses TWO CHIPS.

And I love how you call me names, can't figure out that there's only room for two chips in the Touch (despite the fact that I said exactly that in my first post), and get high ranked. That's awesome, and speaks to the general intelligence level of the Apple haters around here.

[generally @ Jul 30th 2008 8:00PM]

@Zak

That's quite a condescending manner you have. You know, not everything you say on the net has to be on the offensive.

[Decoy @ Jul 30th 2008 8:15PM]

If Zac doesn't say offensive things his dick shrinks. I know mine does!

[Brad @ Jul 30th 2008 8:42PM]

@Zak

It is widely known (and agreed upon) that you are an aggressive, Apple-pushing tool. Anyone who frequents site knows your Marathon icon and can safely assume that you're going to be that guy who screams AWESOME! at every Apple announcement, BOO M$! at every Microsoft announcement, and has awkward confusion about every Sony announcement.

But we also know that you can't think beyond CURRENT Apple products. You know how you "fit" more chips in the touch? You move to Hard drives, or you make it slightly thicker. This doesn't involve bending the laws of physics (how did physics get involved anyhow?) or somehow inventing a chip that doesn't exist. Notice that the first poster said Hard Drive players, which for many users are still really nice. I love my flash-based MP3 player, but I do have to pick and chose what music I take with me. With a nice hard drive based unit, I wouldn't.

And all that @Bleck was saying is what THEY would want in a player. Not what will happen, not how it should happen, what THEY, as the CONSUMER, desire from a product. Why do you have to attack that?

I don't think there's a particularly high Anti-Apple-Fanboy bias here. I think there's a pretty low threshold for aggressive assholes who shout down friend and foe alike. @Bleck just wanted a touchscreen iPod with lots of storage. If you don't, that's cool, but you treated them like an idiot and then attacked people who showed that they had valid points.

[coffee @ Jul 31st 2008 12:19AM]

damn, zak, how did that feel?

[Mikey @ Jul 31st 2008 1:04AM]

@Zak

"Show me where he said "hard drive touch"

He said "I know that the Touch and Hard drives are 'eeeeeeeh' to alot of people." No it may not have used those exact words, but I have this ability to do a thing called "thinking," and I was able to infer that he meant a hard drive-based Touch. Otherwise, this statement makes no sense. I just went with Occam's razor.

"Oh, and then explain how a hard drive would fit into a touch . . . I'm sure you can show me which laws of physics you're planning to break to make that happen"

I guess the same laws of physics that must have been broken to put a hard drive in the iPod classic. Probably something difficult like making the Touch thicker. (I just noticed that Brad is also a Physics genius and figured this out).

I often wonder what the f#%k your problem is, but then I realize it is better to just not worry about it. Plus, you're the one that looks like a 12-year-old with no self esteem and no girlfriend (ever).

[Zak @ Jul 31st 2008 2:21AM]

Brad - making assumptions about me, that's very er... Well let's just say it doesn't make you look like the biggest brain in the class. As far as thinking beyond current products - Really? That's how you're going to do this?

So if I have this right, that means that in defense of Alex's idiotic "just cram 3 chips into a form factor that can only hold two" comment - and seriously, why are you defending that - your explanation is to change how thick the iPod is. LOL. Really, so I can just make my iPod thicker whenever I want and cram three chips or a hard drive into it?

Yeah, let me make this simple for you, since it wasn't simple enough the first time apparently: Neither a hard drive nor three chips will fit into the iPod Touch. Since we are talking about the current iPod Touch, and not some nonexistent future iPod Touch that has more room in it, your arguments fail. Really hard. And so do Alex's.

But hey, you know what they say - if you can't win an argument with facts, just make some shit up. Sure I'll agree with you that there's a possibility that some time in the future the form factor of the iPod Touch might change to accommodate a hard drive or more chips. I mean, as long as we're talking about the future here and not the present, I'm also going to own 17 Porsches and a Lamborghini. Hey look I can make shit up too!

And of course you don't think there's a high anti-Apple fanboy bias here. If you don't like Apple, you just agree with everybody else who doesn't like them either. Do you ever read the comments here? More than half the comments of any given Apple-related story are from Apple haters, and god help any of us if we say anything positive about Apple.

You want to talk about aggressive assholes? Have you looked in a mirror lately? Have you read any of the other comments here or in any other thread? I have a low tolerance for stupidity, which is probably why you see me commenting here so often.

And I like how you say I attacked Mikey after he insulted my reading comprehension. You have very selective reading comprehension yourself, apparently. Sure, I'm the only person in this thread being the bad guy. Right.

Coffee - how did what feel?

Mikey - yes I know what he said, dipshit. That was sort of my point. Did you fail to grasp that? And speaking of failing to grasp, I'm not talking about some imaginary future iPod Touch that's thick enough to hold a hard drive. I'm talking about the EXISTING iPod Touch. Now you want to try to answer again, and this time don't use your imagination to provide an answer?

And my problem is stupid people like you. Stop saying stupid things and I'll stop responding to you. It's pretty simple actually. But, keep saying stupid things and you can expect more of this.

[nicko.dvz @ Jul 31st 2008 2:38AM]

@Zak: I have a recommended word limit of 50 and a maximum word limit of 160. Just thought you ought to know.

[John @ Jul 31st 2008 3:13AM]

Zak+Reading Comprehension=Fail

[Kizorblade @ Jul 31st 2008 3:36AM]

I think the general idea from the hard drive people is that you reshuffle the stuff around in the Touch and fit a hard drive in.
This wouldn't work very well because a hard drive just couldn't be able to read data from the disk fast enough for the applications on the Touch to load near instantaneously.
Reliability isn't really an issue, as many have hard drive based iPods which still work after several years of service.
Another problem would be that I just really don't think it's possible to reshuffle the stuff around inside for space to put the hard drive in. And we definitely know that Apple won't make the iPod touch bigger to accommodate a hard drive as that'd go against their idea of moving forward all the time.
Also it might be good to note that most people don't actually need the increased storage of hard drives as most of us carry around only several GBs of music, so they don't really need the extra capacity, although it is nice to have it there.

[Zak @ Jul 31st 2008 11:22AM]

John - this is like playing whack-a-moron. You obviously don't get what I'm saying either, so you might want to work on your own reading comprehension.

Kizor - I'd still like to see Alex try to jam 3 chips into an iPod Touch. You know, the thing he called me a moron for failing to realize you can apparently do. "There's your 80GB, douche" LOL. Really, Alex? So do it, film it and put it on YouTube. If I'm such a douche for disagreeing with you it should be easy to prove me wrong. You and Brad can high five each other all day long.

But this means you have to actually back up your shit talking with action , "douche", so I find it pretty unlikely that you'll even attempt it. But please do put your money where your mouth is for once instead of just flapping your gums. I think we'd all like to see it.

Of course if you can't do it then you have to admit I was right. I'm pretty sure you're rather kill yourself than admit I was right though, yes?

[Mikey @ Jul 31st 2008 11:38AM]

@Zak

"And speaking of failing to grasp, I'm not talking about some imaginary future iPod Touch that's thick enough to hold a hard drive. I'm talking about the EXISTING iPod Touch"

How the fuck am I supposed to know that. Not only do you lack reading comprehension skills, but your writing is some of the least clear I've every read. If that is what you meant, what you wrote does not convey that. Just because its clear to you doesn't mean its clear to anyone else. And I was responding to your ridiculous "laws of physics" question... making it thicker defies no laws of physics of which I am aware.

Its also a little hard to take the high road when you are calling people dipshits and idiots... especially when you look like a petulant little child who doesn't understand basic concepts.

"And my problem is stupid people like you. Stop saying stupid things and I'll stop responding to you."

I agree... Zak, stop saying stupid things, and I'll stop correcting you. But, I won't hold my breath. It's also probably not a good idea to call people stupid when you have no idea how smart they are. I don't assume you are stupid, I just assume you don't know how to control your douchbaggery yet, but it will come once you turn 14.

[TJ @ Jul 31st 2008 7:04PM]

Can't stress this enough - Don't feed the idiot trolls....

[Mikey @ Jul 31st 2008 11:57AM]

For some reason this didn't post to this thread, so I'll re-post it

One more thing for Zak

"And I like how you say I attacked Mikey after he insulted my reading comprehension."

I did not insult your reading comprehension. Get over yourself. I merely pointed out that your response to the original post seemed to have missed something. Perhaps because it is your MO to attack someone for every little thing you assume I was doing the same. The only times I go after you is after you lash out like a pre-teen. And even if I was somehow insulting you, it was in response to your blatantly arrogant and dick-ish "what mythical chip" comment. If you don't see how much of a prick you are when you say things like that, than you are going to have a very hard time in life.

You claim to have a very low tolerance for stupidity. Well I have a very very low tolerance for people who think they are superior to everyone else because they think they are smarter or prettier or richer or whatever. So if someone acts superior for an unfounded reason (as you tend to do on just about every post that you chose to "contribute" to), then yes I will retaliate... particularly when people act superior and intelligent and they are just plain wrong (as you almost always are when a post talks about legal issues). We all have inherent worth... even you, fair Zak.

Call it a kind of modified golden rule... I treat others how they demonstrate they wish to be treated. You act like an arrogant jerk who pounces on every little thing, so that's how I'm going to react. If you can't take it... SHUT THE FUCK UP.

[luzzio @ Jul 31st 2008 1:43PM]

Bleck said:

Apple, please, 80GB Touch for $250. I know that the Touch and *!~Hard drives~!* are "eeeeeeeh" to alot of people...


Zak sez:

The 32GB Touch uses two 16GB chips. How are they supposed to get it up to 80GB? Which mythical 40GB chips are they supposed to use? The 32GB chips are becoming more prevalent (and cheaper) so we *might* see a 64GB Touch.

Are you sure it's *my* reading comprehension that's the problem here? Show me where he said "hard drive touch". Those exact words in that order. Look real hard at what the OP actually said.



Bottomline:

You fail so bad.

[Pochi @ Jul 30th 2008 3:28PM]

Shouldn't that old ass Mini be getting an upgrade soon?

[Farris @ Jul 30th 2008 3:33PM]

No kidding! I want to buy an Apple computer, mainly to see if I like the OS. The only problem is that the high prices of all their other systems combined with how old the Mac Mini is has kept me from buying. I just know that as soon as I buy a Mini, they will refresh it.

And I've tried OSx86. Didn't work on any of my compys, and I didn't feel like messing with it to make it work.

[Pochi @ Jul 30th 2008 3:40PM]

OSx86 is a total disaster. Unfortunately the only way you're going to get to try OSX is to get a Mac (thanks a lot, Apple). But yeah, the best way it seems is to grab a Mini, especially for PC users, most of whom already have everything else they need (KVM).

C'MON STEVE YOU STRUGGLER. Fix the cracked iPhones and refresh the Mini.

[DWells55 @ Jul 30th 2008 5:31PM]

OSx86 is anything but a "disaster." My computer has been running Leopard 10.5.2 with full hardware acceleration for my 8800GT, audio support, and everything else and is perfectly stable with no problems.

[Pochi @ Jul 30th 2008 7:26PM]

@DWells55

One person getting something to work great does not make it a success. I am sure lots of people got ME working like a dream. Doesn't mean it wasn't a disaster.